Robert Downey Jr.: The Fall and Rise of the Comeback Kid

by Ben Falk

The first detailed and authoritative account of the life, career, stardom, and controversy of one of Hollywood’s most popular and gifted actors   "I've always felt like an outsider in this industry. Because I'm so insane I guess."  —Robert Downey Jr.  Robert Downey Jr.'s life isn't a movie—but it could be. This biography is an insightful, devastating, scathing, and ultimately uplifting journey into the realms of Hollywood’s darkest excesses and successes. Downey now commands $25 million a movie—not bad for someone who 10 years ago was in prison, addicted to heroin and cocaine, and one bad choice away from death. Sherlock Holmes was one of last year's biggest blockbusters, with its sequel expected at the end of 2011, while summer 2010 blockbuster Iron Man 2 continued the fun and the high praise for Downey of its predecessor. His is without a doubt Hollywood’s greatest ever comeback.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Film

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[K K · Rating 4 out of 5]

RDJ rocks

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

606 - 2020

Sayang, buku ini terbitan 2010...

[luciddreamer99 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read and good overview of Downey's career and struggles with drugs. As charming as Downey himself, the book draws you into the story with mostly short chapters, with a photo section and filmography at the end. Obviously, one could consult IMDB for a lot of the same cast information, or even do individual research to find out a lot of these anecdotes, but as a collective whole, the story presented here is one worth reading. Recommended for fans of Downey Jr. or Hollywood stories in general.

[Arthea J. Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seems fairly thorough considering it wasn’t “authorized.” It held my attention and I learned things. Non-US traditional spelling of some words bugged me. I really hope RDJ writes his own book someday.

[Barno · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting read after he became popular back again during DC movies and iron man in particular.
Never liked Robert and after reading the book made clear and obvious not to like him definitely.
Jessica Parker did a great job helping this dude but drug addiction made it in vain.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great representation of RDJ’s life and all his challenges as he was growing up in the films industry. I would recommend to a fellow MCU nerd.

[Lina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely an informative biography, despite the author's lack of connection with Robert Downey Jr himself. I was a little bit annoyed by the overly negative outlook on everything Downey Jr has accomplished. Surely, drug addiction is never a lighthearted story, and I understand that. His portrayal of the misery of being an addict seemed honest and good.

However, Falk pointed to nearly everything Downey Jr has done, every single movie and appearance with a depressing outlook. The reports of the box office numbers etc. were understandable, but when describing the movies and productions himself, they all had an incredibly negative undertone.

I felt it irked me, because I absolutely adore some of the downrated movies by Downey Jr, such as The Soloist, Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus - even The Singing Detective! Falk's negativity didn't even leave his blockbusters alone (such as Sherlock Holmes) and I guess, after some time, it just felt like a jargon I didn't want to take part in.

Despite of that, I have learnt a lot more about Downey Jr, and am currently (if possible) even more humbled by him and his strength of character. Let's hope he'll write his own biography soon enough.

[Phoebe Rolfe]

Considering that this is a biography written by someone with no personal connection to RDJ, I thought it was done rather well, but when reading this I had a constant sense that we weren't quite getting into the true heart of the subject matter. Ben Falk mentions several times that Downey has the ability to put up a façade and only show what he wants to show his audiences, and I feel as if this describes the book quite accurately too: it was extremely well-researched and informative, but I didn't come away thinking that I knew the man in any shape or form. However, until RDJ does decide to take on that autobiography contract and write his own, this is a good read to mull over.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty good despite not having the approval and input of Mr. Downey. I look forward to Downey's version of events if he ever decides to write an autobiography. I found the story both depressing and uplifting by turns. I join with all his fans in hoping he can maintain his newfound success. While I was reading this the news came out that he and his wife are expecting a baby; that was cool!

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't the best biography of an actor that I've read. Robert is one of my favroite actors and I just felt like this book could have pulled deeper for a better perspective. The quotes felt generic and there wasn't anyone close enough to give a real quote, like Robert or his wife. The author wasn't directly in contact with these people so it was weaker that way. I don't know, just me, I guess.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed RDJ but knew little about the details of his struggles with addiction. I am truly happy that he survived his demons and is enjoying success today. He is a joy to watch on screen, and I am rediscovering his films. I would prefer to read a personal account by RDJ himself, but this will suffice for now. I do agree with other reviewers that this author was very negative when discussing box office and such, but I enjoyed the book since I enjoy the man.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many modern day bios, this started off completely engaging, with new things I hadn't heard, some things that were common knowledge, and a few in depth points that I wish had been clarified but somehow had been overlooked for years. Lost me on the last 100 pages or so. A shame.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little disappointing as the author has never met Robert Downey Jr. Story however was put together well, but as to it's authenticity?

[Gillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started off really interesting though i got a bit bored in the middle.Liked the pictures at the end though.

[Brookylin Blake]

ioijljou

[Eloisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Provided a lot of information. I knew that RDJ's life wasn't very....good at the beginning, but this is........wow.

[Zsófia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought the book around the time it was published, so in like 2010, started to read it back then, then abandoned it. I finally finished it today. I knew most of these things already but there were some details I didn't know about, so that was nice.
What I really didn't like was that it seemed to me that the author doesn't like Downey or he wants him to fail again, there are way too many pages about his drug addiction. Even at the end of the book the author is like "yeah, he will probably fall back again.. or maybe not, we'll see.. but most addicts don't stay sober", wtf...
No wonder Downey hates this book tbh. :/